1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity:
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers:
a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
d.model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments
Reflection: I have attached a template from an activity that the students completed in a program that we have installed in our school computers called "Kurzweil." This software is advantageous for all students, but especially struggling readers and writers. For struggling readers, this program allows students to listen to the text as it is read to them. In doing so, students may choose the speed in which the software reads, they may pause to make notes and highlight directly on the words on the screen which can be printed out upon the conclusion of their listening session. As for struggling writers, Kurzweil can be utilized to read back a student's piece of written work. In doing so, students are able to listen to their own words and hear mistakes within their writing that they may have not caught by only reading visually. Additionally, the software also catches grammatical errors as well.
Therefore, the attached template is an activity that students completed after reading a short story. The assignment was to create a cartoon strip that tells the story from a different character's point of view. Instead of having students use traditional paper and pencil for this assignment, they utilized Kurzweil so that they could listen to their stories and use the software as a check for story clarification. I created this template as a way for students to organize their thoughts as they created the cartoon. Although they had "guided questions" to help them develop their stories (i.e. give them a sense of direction), they were given the opportunity to be as creative as possible in its development. Many students benefited by "hearing" their stories and detecting incomplete thoughts, etc. Once their story lines were typed, reviewed, and edited (in the yellow portion of the attached template), they printed off the template and sketched the action! The Kurzweil portion of the assignment was completed with me in the classroom, using our laptop cart. This allowed students to ask questions as they worked on their stories. The sketching and coloring portion of the assignment was completed at home. Students don't believe how helpful it is to "hear" their stories until they actually participate in this process. Upon completing this assignment, many students are believers, and they are typically proud of their creative abilities!
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity:
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers:
a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
d.model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments
Reflection: I have attached a template from an activity that the students completed in a program that we have installed in our school computers called "Kurzweil." This software is advantageous for all students, but especially struggling readers and writers. For struggling readers, this program allows students to listen to the text as it is read to them. In doing so, students may choose the speed in which the software reads, they may pause to make notes and highlight directly on the words on the screen which can be printed out upon the conclusion of their listening session. As for struggling writers, Kurzweil can be utilized to read back a student's piece of written work. In doing so, students are able to listen to their own words and hear mistakes within their writing that they may have not caught by only reading visually. Additionally, the software also catches grammatical errors as well.
Therefore, the attached template is an activity that students completed after reading a short story. The assignment was to create a cartoon strip that tells the story from a different character's point of view. Instead of having students use traditional paper and pencil for this assignment, they utilized Kurzweil so that they could listen to their stories and use the software as a check for story clarification. I created this template as a way for students to organize their thoughts as they created the cartoon. Although they had "guided questions" to help them develop their stories (i.e. give them a sense of direction), they were given the opportunity to be as creative as possible in its development. Many students benefited by "hearing" their stories and detecting incomplete thoughts, etc. Once their story lines were typed, reviewed, and edited (in the yellow portion of the attached template), they printed off the template and sketched the action! The Kurzweil portion of the assignment was completed with me in the classroom, using our laptop cart. This allowed students to ask questions as they worked on their stories. The sketching and coloring portion of the assignment was completed at home. Students don't believe how helpful it is to "hear" their stories until they actually participate in this process. Upon completing this assignment, many students are believers, and they are typically proud of their creative abilities!
Artifact: